


History Maker

by 96percentdone (Nakanaide)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Adventure, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I put the eventual in eventual romance, M/M, Minami is three years younger than them, Phichit and Yuuri are the same age, Science Fiction, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Time Travel, Viktor with a fucking k fight me, as is Seung-Gil, except ngl i'm gonna be really lazy about it, it'll be a fun time, let me live y'all, this fic is gonna be half just a big steins;gate reference, time travel is fun kids, uhhh if I think of anything else it'll go here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-24
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2018-12-19 12:46:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11898030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nakanaide/pseuds/96percentdone
Summary: It's the year 2134. Katsuki Yuuri, recently turned 18, just got his soulmark. There's really only one thing left to do: submit it to the online database and figure out who his match is, meet up with them and hopefully live happily ever after. Seems simple enough, right? Well, it would be, if his soulmate wasn't Viktor Nikiforov, a figure skating legend from the early 2000s.AKA the story where Yuuri invents time travel to be with his soulmate, and shenanigans happen.





	1. The Figure Skate Clock

_Time: 4:12pm, December 8 th, 2134. Location: Dorm room._

Yuuri huddles on his bed, staring at the open webpage on his holoscreen for the nth time. The empty profile creator stares back at him. _Soulmatch.org. Finding your soulmate with ease since 1995!_ It’s been open for over a week, taunting him, begging him to do something. It eggs on the little voice in his head that Yuuri can’t ignore. The voice of the Yuuri who obsessively watches Disney movies, and owns every romance novel, and movie rom com. _Come on, it’s your dream right? Just do it._ Hesitantly, he starts typing.

‘Last Name: Katsuki First Name: Yuur—’

 _Nope,_ and in an instant the tentative tapping of words on the screen stops, switching to Yuuri frantically slamming delete. The blank white form judges him. He can’t do this, _he can’t!_ He’s not ready for this, how could he ever be ready for this, there’s no way he’ll ever be ready for this! _I should just…get this over with._ The mark on his chest almost burns, begging him to do something, but he still does nothing.

The staring contest is broken at the whirr of the door sliding open. “Yuuri! I’m baaack!” Phichit calls, bursting through the entrance before flopping face first on his messy, sheet strewn bed. “Although not for long. I’ve got lab work to do in a bit, and if I don’t show up on time, Seung-Gil might actually just kill me.” His voice is muffled by the sheets on the bed, but Yuuri understood okay regardless.

“Hey, Phichit,” Yuuri greets, gone back to staring at the screen with hopeless determination. _You can do this. Just type._ Nothing happens.

“Still haven’t done it yet?” Phichit asks, flipping from his stomach to his side facing Yuuri, eyes boring straight through the endless fluttery panic in Yuuri’s heart. “What exactly are you afraid of? Rejection?”

Yuuri’s stomach braids itself in response. _Yes,_ he doesn’t answer, flicking the holoscreen closed and throwing off the gloves that control it. _Can we stop talking about this now? Please?_ Yuuri thinks, ready to bury his face into his cold rumpled pillow for another thousand years.

Nope! “Yuuri, you’re not going to be rejected,” Phichit says, sitting up, feet hitting the metal floor. “There’s just no way. Even ignoring the fact that less than .003% of matches don’t work out,” _I’m going to be that .002794%_ “there’s absolutely no reason why they wouldn’t love _you_.”

_There is every reason they wouldn’t love me._

As if Phichit read his mind, he continues. “I’m serious! Yuuri, it’s amazing how much about you there is to love. You are so much more than you think.” Yuuri doesn’t get a chance to rebut. “But I know my just saying so won’t convince you. It never has. I think your soulmate, someway, somehow, will be able to get you to understand, even if it’s only a little.”

Phichit kicks the floor before standing up, grabbing his bag and heading back towards the door. He doesn’t leave, instead whirling back around to face Yuuri. “I know that deep down, beyond all the fear, you want to. You’ve been dreaming about your soulmate for as long as I’ve known you. There’s no one I know who wants love more than you. And I think the romantic in you will win out in the end. I’m sure of it.” Phichit smiles reassuringly, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder. “It’ll all work out fine, okay? The worst that’ll happen is you’ll have to wait until your soulmate submits themselves like I do, now I really gotta go!” He finishes, putting a hand on the door. It beeps before sliding open.

“Later!” Yuuri calls out, staring at the closing door as it slides back into being the wall.

_“Deep down, beyond all the fear, you want to.”_

_You want to you want to you want to._

God, he _does._ It’s why he always keeps the window open on his holoscreen. Why the mark on his chest hurts, and the image is seared into his mind. There’s nothing he wants more than the epic love stories he reads about in literature classes.

In his mind there’s a clear image of his mark. A figure skate, surrounded by roman numerals. One lace pointing between the four and the five, and the longer one pointing between the six and seven. A clock. He doesn’t understand what it means. Does his soulmate skate? But when why they clock? What could time have to do with him? He certainly doesn’t understand, but he wants to. He wants to understand, to know who they are, and to fall in love.

Yuuri throws the gloves back on, rapidly waving the Holoscreen back open. His fingers fly across the screen, slowly transforming the empty form into a real profile.

‘Last Name: Katsuki First Name: Yuuri

Date of Birth: 11/29/2116’

He fills out all the basics with ease, _why was I even nervous,_ every empty space easily filled with information. He adds the picture of his mark and then stops. The submit button stares him down, as if to say ‘you won’t’.

_What if they won’t want to know me? What if it’s just me—what if I’m the only one who wants this? What if it’s not fine, what if—_

It’s 4:30. The mark flashes through his mind and it clicks. The tension washes through his body as his fears are wiped away, and Yuuri hits the button. _Okay._

‘Searching….Searching….”

In the silence of the room, Yuuri can only hear the pounding in his chest.

‘Match found!’ Click here for more info.’

The moment of truth. His heart thuds in his ears so loudly he’s forgotten what silence is. His hand is raised, frozen right before the button. With just a tap the vague silhouette and blank space in his mind will _be_ someone. _This is it._

A tap, and the screen is filled with the profile of a complete stranger, and the most beautiful man Yuuri has ever seen. Long silver hair with blue eyes the color of a clear sky, a brilliant heart shaped smile, and _oh my god his physique._ He cups his face which almost burn at the flush of his cheeks. _Are we sure this is my soulmate?_ The deafening beat of his heart only speeds up, and a quick glance to the top of the page confirms _Yes. Yes it is. Viktor Nikiforov, huh?_

He’s skimming through all the information in no real order. _Location, St. Petersburg, Russia, well that’s far but we’ll figure it out, phone number, people still use phones?_ When suddenly he notices.

‘Age: 146. Date of Birth: December 25th 1987’

 ** _WHAT?!_** _1987? How?! He’d have to be dead!! This has to be a mistake, right?!_ The room starts to spin. _Why would my soulmate be someone who definitely died way before I was born!_ Even curled up on his bed his balance is off. _There’s no way!_ Unconsciously, he stands up, wobbling at the first step before pacing the room bare feet on the cold floor, the holoscreen trailing behind him.

 _1987 **1987 1987!!!** Is this some kind of joke?! _Of all the things Yuuri fears, incompatibility, rejection, even having to wait because his soulmate hasn’t submitted yet, he didn’t expect _this._ A soulmate from another century. _There’s just no way! There must be some kind of mistake. Maybe there was an error in the database? I just_

He collapses back onto his bed, whips around and refreshes the page. Nothing changes. In a panic he refreshes another 17 times, but the smiling face of Viktor Nikiforov greets him every time. A ‘Need Help?’ catches his attention towards the bottom next to the report button. A click.

‘What seems to be the trouble?

1)  Soulmarks don’t match.

2)  Data won’t load completely/correctly

3)  Other’

 _Yeah other like ‘you found someone from the last century as my soulmate!’_ But even after going through the entire help process more times than he could count, the end result was still the same. Viktor Nikiforov, born 12/25/1987. Without thinking he fires a rapid ‘help’ text to Phichit followed by a screenshot.

 _This doesn’t make sense!_ Yuuri leaps back out of bed, resuming his pacing. No matter how much he moves, no matter how repetitive, the nervous energy builds faster than he can get rid of it. It’s so hard to ground himself. _Is this really it? My soulmate is someone I could never have? Really?!_ His eyes burn, and despite the eyedrop contacts everything is blurry. He quivers.

There’s no immediate response from Phichit, which makes sense, even if it’s unfortunate considering how hard it is to stay upright. He’s busy with lab work. Yuuri knows this. _Okay okay._ Deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. His heart beat slows. The room stills. _If I can’t figure out anything wrong with the site right now, maybe I can find the issue by looking up Viktor. Maybe I’m missing something, like he was put in cryofreeze or something (did that even exist back then? WHATEVER)._

With trembling hands a new tab is opened, and Yuuri quickly searches the name. Any and all results are ancient, as expected, the most recent articles about figure skating history, and his legacy, the impact he had on the sport. _So he was a big deal—SIX TIME CONSECUTIVE WORLD CHAMPION?! WHAT!?!?_ If Yuuri wasn’t already having doubts because of the whole different century thing, or the fact that he looks like a supermodel fucked Adonis, he’d definitely be having them now.

But there’s nothing particularly helpful. No section on Wikipedia, or old news article, or even some wild internet conspiracies about Viktor Nikiforov being an immortal. He’s skimmed through article after article, page after page, even ancient archived blog post from some website called tumblr. He can’t find anything. Viktor Nikiforov lived and died like just like everyone else. _But then, what’s happening? How could this possibly be?! This doesn’t make sense! It doesn’t it doesn’t it doesn’t it doesn’t it doesn’t—_

The gloves vibrate. _Phichit!_

_Phichit: !!_

_Phichit: omw! just finished lab work_

A deep exhale. _Thank god._ Out of the two of them, Phichit was always the more technologically inclined. Sure, Yuuri could use it perfectly fine, but Phichit lived and breathed it. If anyone could figure this out, Phichit probably could.

The shaking in his hands subsides ever so slightly. _Inhale 2, 3, 4, hold 2, 3, 4, exhale 2, 3, 4._ Repeat. Over and over and over until his ceaselessly racing heart settles enough for him to think. _Okay._ He breathes, and sits back down on his bed.

The door flies open. “Yuuri!!” Phichit rushes into the room, practically flinging himself in the spot next to Yuuri. “Show me the results!” He demands, straightening himself out. “Also did you give me permission to use your screen or do we still have to do that?”

“Do you maybe want to put all of your stuff down first?” Yuuri asks while messing with his settings.

Phichit gives him a scandalized look, hand splayed over his chest. “My stuff can wait ten minutes! This is far more interesting, and you know it!”

“Yeah okay,” Yuuri rolls his eyes with an amused smile as he flips back to the soulmatch results page, before expanding the Holoscreen so Phichit can see better. “So this is my soulmate. Apparently.” Yuuri says, making a halfhearted presenting gesture with his hands.

Phichit whistles. “Damn. Not my type, obviously, but I can definitely see the appeal.”

“Your type is intense and stoic,” Yuuri teases.

“Hey listen,” Phichit nudges him with his elbow, “You like your graceful pretty boys I like mine.” Yuuri laughs as Phichit scrolls through the results, gaze intent. He watches as Phichit messes with a variety of settings and features, frown getting deeper with each change. Finally he makes eye contact with Yuuri. “Yuuri I don’t know how to tell you this, but this is 100% the real deal. Your soulmate is from the turn of the millennium.”

“How?!” Yuuri explains, almost jumping in his seat. “Whyyy?!”

Phichit can only shrug. “Not sure. I don’t have that much information. You and I need to do some serious investigating. Did you find anything else about him earlier?”

Yuuri nods, flipping through the various articles he still has open. “Yeah he’s a figure skating legend. He broke records at 16 and retired after becoming a six time consecutive world champion. There’s a lot about his skating. Not much about anything else, especially that could explain this.” _And at this point I’ll take anything._

“Hmm….okay!” Phichit responds, sifting through all the articles Yuuri has open himself. Eventually he does his own search.

Minutes pass as the two of them read through endless articles, but nothing is any clearer for Yuuri. Now he just has a whole lot of irrelevant information about his apparent soulmate, like how has skates with gold blades. _He never lets you forget he’s a winner, huh?_ There has to be something he’s missing. Something obvious.

The figure skate clock flickers across his vision. _Oh no._

Phichit stops scrolling, instead staring intently at the image of Viktor’s mark on the screen. _No._ “Is that…a clock?” _No!_ “Yuuri, I have a theory.” _No, no no._ “I think…you time travel.” _NO._ “Specifically, I think you invent it.”

 _WHY!?!_ Yuuri buries his head in his hands and groans. _I’m a lit major, how can this possibly be what my life must come to?_

Yuuri must have said this out loud, because Phichit replies with “Well isn’t the most common explanation for soulmark components that it consists of whatever defines you and your soulmate or soulmates? Yours is a figure skate and a clock, and if he’s the figure skate…”

“Then I’m the clock.” Yuuri groans again, falling into his pillow and drowning himself in the cold soft darkness. _Whyyyyyy???????_

“Exactly! And considering where the two of you exist across the timeline, the clock has to be related to time travel!” Phichit shakes Yuuri, but Yuuri doesn’t budge. “But there’s more! Think of it like this: if soulmates are fated to be together, and Viktor is truly your soulmate, then in order to be with him, time travel has to exist. And it certainly doesn’t right now; I would know.”

He’s ignoring Phichit’s relentless shaking instead further smothering his face in the cool surface of his pillow. He almost screams. Almost. He knows Phichit is right. It’s the only way this makes any sense, but why him? _Whyyy?_ “This is way too much for me Phichit…” he whines into the pillow. Hopefully Phichit can understand him.

“I know, but don’t you see? It’s fated! I mean, I couldn’t find anything on the record to suggest you were there, but just from being soulmates means it must happen in some capacity. I wonder what kind of loop this would classify as? It’s not really a closed loop I don’t think. I didn’t search very hard granted but I can’t find any evidence of you in the past, unless you were _super good_ at staying off the grid. Maybe you were there…” Phichit gets lost rambling about the theoretical mechanics of time loops. _At least one of us is excited._

“Phichit…” Yuuri moans, causing Phichit to immediately shut up. “Why me…?” He drags himself back into a sitting position.

“I can’t answer that, Yuuri,” Phichit shakes his head sympathetically. “I’m not what decided this. But, I don’t understand why you’re not even a little excited by this.” Concern and confusion are laced in his voice.

“I’m not you Phichit. I didn’t watch _The King and the Skater_ and fall in love with the concept of time travel.” Yuuri aimlessly scrolls through the open page, not willing to make eye contact.

“No, I know! But,” Phichit pauses, briefly pressing his fist to his mouth before continuing. “I just thought you would see the romantic potential in it.” _The…romantic potential?_ To be honest the only thing Yuuri can see is how much work this is going to be, and how stressful it is, and _oh god I can’t do this, why would anyone think I could do this, this is impossible!_ “I mean, what would be more romantic than overcoming the barrier of time for love? That’s like the grandest love story I could think of!”

 _Oh._ “Yeah so?” Yuuri says, as what Phichit’s words truly dawned on him. A grand epic romance is in his reach. He really could have that.

“Oh come on!!” In three taps Phichit has Yuuri’s entire book library open. The books range from classics like _Pride and Prejudice,_ to really trashy Nicholas Sparks novels. “This isn’t the book collection of a man who’s never wanted an epic love story in his life.” He rightfully points out. _I have no comeback to that._ “and the amount of times you’ve made me watch that old movie _Titanic—”_

“Alright alright I get it!!” Yuuri flails. _Please shut up!!_

“And Yuuri, you’re not going to have to do this alone, see this?” Phichit opens his own Holoscreen. It displays an image of a gear with a clock at the center. His soulmark. “I’ll help you. Even if this wasn’t my mark, I would help you anyway! Time travel is awesome!” Phichit laughs, and Yuuri can’t help but chuckle along with him. “Yuuri, I want nothing but your happiness, and I think…well this might be the key to it.” His smile is soft but bright.

Once again, Yuuri can’t help but think of the figure skate clock. _Is this really what’s meant to be?_ On his own screen before him, there’s still the open profile of his soulmate. Viktor Nikiforov, figure skating legend and enigma. That carefree happy smile stands out to him, and Yuuri remembers everything that lead him here. He wants to fall in love—to have an epic romance that last throughout the ages. _I want to know who you are._ The smallest amount of his apprehension melts.

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins. The quest to invent time travel. I hope you people are excited as I am for this fic because I was so excited when planning it I couldn't wait to share it. It'll be a blast, I hope!!
> 
> Please comment if you thought or felt anything at all. It means the world to me. And if any of you are interested, my tumblr is [96percentdone](http://www.96percentdone.tumblr.com). (Okay I'm done with the desperate shameless writer plugs. Carry on).


	2. An Excessive Amount of Studying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couple of notes about this AU. I might make more notes like this as this progresses but we'll see.
> 
> 1) Yuuri and Phichit (and later Seung Gil when he shows up) are all the same age. My boy Minami is three years younger than them. No other age shifts have occurred (unless the technical 128 year age gap between Viktor and Yuuri counts lmao).  
> 2) Hasetsu effectively became a ghost town by 2056 and the Katsukis have since relocated to New York. Where this fic takes place right now.

_Time: 2:48pm, December 13 th, 2134. Location: Advisor’s Office._

The advisor is looking at Yuuri as if he’s a little nuts. Yuuri can’t blame them, considering he already declared himself a lit major, and everything he’s done leading up to this point just did not scream “physics!” but here he is, in a sterilely lit metal cubicle with a concerned advisor. “Are you…sure?” They ask.

Yuuri nods. “Yeah, I’m sure. Literature isn’t really capturing my interest anymore, and I think I need to try something completely different.” That’s a lie. Yuuri would definitely rather stay an English major, and books will always be more interesting than theories or equations, but he can’t exactly give ‘inventing time travel to meet my soulmate from the last century’ as an explanation without raising more questions than he can answer.

The advisor gives a small nod, “Alright,” messing with their screen to get the appropriate forms and his schedule. “So for starters…” they trail on and on about the logistics of switching majors and what classes a physics major entails. Yuuri’s paying attention enough, at least he’s staring in their general direction, but there are other things on his mind.

He can’t help how his fingers twitch, lightly thrumming against the desk. It’s not that he’s _bad_ at science, it’s just not interesting. It doesn’t capture his interest like words do. It’s such an impulsive change—is this really a good idea? _No. Can’t back out now._

He knows Phichit is more than willing to help. Phichit, who solves equations in his sleep and cannot stop rambling about how _cool_ a time machine would be— _‘I’ll help you!’—_ would never turn this opportunity down, but Yuuri can’t depend solely on him for this. He won’t. This isn’t just about inventing time travel, it’s inventing time travel so _Yuuri_ can be with his mysterious soulmate. If he does nothing…well he’d just be using Phichit for his own gain.

Yuuri shakes his head violently, _No! It’s not going to be like that._ The advisor asks him if something’s wrong, and Yuuri shakes his head yet again, but slower. “I’m fine, sorry.” Awkward laugh.

He’s switching majors. Even if he’s not entirely sure what it all will entail, even if he has to cram for months straight and pull more all-nighters than he can count, even if it’ll be stressful and endlessly difficult, he’ll do it. Viktor Nikiforov’s smiling face flashes through his thoughts. _It’ll be worth it. Besides, if this is something I’m destined to do, I have to take to it pretty quickly, right?_

 

_Time: 5:18pm, March 27 th, 2135. Location: dorm room._

_This was a **mistake** ,_ Yuuri thinks, scanning his notes on quantum superposition and Schrodinger’s cat for the umpteenth time. _Why does the cat make sense and not the concept it’s based on?!_ “I’m dying, Phichit,” Yuuri moans, flopping backwards on his slightly messy bed, throwing his arm over his eyes in true melodramatic fashion. He’d throw the gloves off if it wasn’t for the fact that his twenty pages of notes aren’t going to study themselves.

“No you’re not,” Phichit laughs, pulling Yuuri by the arm back into a sitting position. “I think you’re overthinking it. Schrodinger’s cat is just an example of the mechanics of quantum superposition but with a more everyday application.” _That means nothing to me._ “Look, honestly, maybe for now we’ll stop talking about this because you won’t be able to stop overthinking it otherwise.”

Yuuri slumps in relief. He’s about to scroll further in his notes before something catches his eye. _The many-worlds interpretation…_ ”Hey Phichit, about this…” Yuuri begins, pointing at the section in question to finish his sentence for him.

Phichit sighs wearing a half smile. “I thought we were going to stop talking about this.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but—“a pause.  “I thought about what this means for time, and that’s…relevant, right?” Yuuri asks, glancing at Phichit hesitantly even though they _both_ know it is.

“Yeah it is.” Phichit nods, sprawling out on his bed staring at the ceiling instead of sitting like a normal person trying to study. “In broad terms, for every scenario where the observer found the cat was dead, there’s another world where the cat is still alive.”

“So in regards to time, for every choice, theoretically, there’s another world where that choice wasn’t made. A divergence for every choice, going onward to forever.” Yuuri reasons, crossing his legs.

“Mhmm,” Phichit rummages through his pockets, before playing catch with himself using the ball of rubber bands he fished out. “With that approach, there’s another world—another universe where I didn’t start throwing this ball. There’s no way for us to confirm this, really, but it’s theoretically possible.”

Yuuri hums in understanding, and goes back to scrolling through his notes, but a little thought floats through his mind. _I wonder about the worlds where I never submitted myself?_

_Time: 9:32am, July 26 th, 2135. Location: Yuuri’s bedroom, Katsuki Home._

When he told his parents about his switch to physics, they looked concerned initially, before ultimately smiling and saying “Whatever makes you happy, dear.” Originally he wasn’t even going to visit them over the summer, and just spend the entire time on campus taking more classes on top of his overloaded schedule, but he had time off. There was a pit in his gut that weighed on him, telling him to better explain himself, and that he hadn’t seen them in almost a year, so now he’s here, lying in his bed staring aimlessly at the white ceiling pretending that he’ll go right back to sleep.

 _I really should do some work._ There are piles of theorems and questions and notes he still needs to review and memorize and understand impatiently awaiting him on his holoscreen, but he doesn’t get up. Instead he rolls on his side towards the light blue faded wall.

 _Viktor…_ it’s a little impressive how any and all shades of blue, even this one which is more akin to a pastel than the warm depths of the sky of Viktor’s eyes, automatically makes Yuuri think of him. Especially considering Yuuri is no closer to knowing him than he was half a year ago. He’s so been burying himself alive with work to get himself closer to Viktor, he hasn’t given himself the chance to actually look into him.

The drive to meet Viktor, to _know_ him, is the fuel that keeps him going throughout all of this, but he keeps Viktor as an abstract goal. He doesn’t let himself look Viktor up. He could. He could easily do it right now--it’d take three seconds--but then he’d have to admit to himself he’s just putting off all this work. He curls up further under the blanket.

All he can do is wonder, about Viktor Nikiforov and his sky blue eyes. About what made them light up in that picture he used, the one Yuuri saved to his wallpaper. About what he’d have to do to create that same effect. About what brings Viktor Nikiforov joy. _Who are you…?_

He doesn’t know. All he has is a name, an occupation, and a very impressive record; all the information you could find on a Wikipedia page. He knows nothing about the man he’s trying so desperately to meet.

Yuuri sighs, rolling over and sitting at the edge of the bed. _I’m not going to get any closer staring at this wall._

_Time: 8:39pm, September 9 th, 2135. Location: Dorm Room._

“Remind me again why we’re doing this?” Yuuri asks, readjusting his position on Phichit’s bed for what feels like the seventieth, careful not to disturb the bowl of popcorn in the dark, as Phichit expands the Holoscreen to an absurd degree. _I feel like there’s a lot more effective ways to use my time than time travel movie night._

“Because, to be honest, one of the easiest ways to digest time travel theory is to see how all of this works in action,” Phichit answers, shuffling through his almost entirely pirated movie library. “And it’s waaaayyyy more fun this way, so we’re doing it. Unless you _want_ to spend all night reading theses?” Phichit gives Yuuri a pointed glance, but he’s smiling.

“No,” Yuuri agrees. He absolutely does not. If Yuuri has to read _one more thesis_ tonight he might actually just die from an information overload. As it is, there’s already a minor headache coming on.

“Good! Now take your pick: _Back to the Future,_ or _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?”_ Phichit asks, shifting between one cover on the screen to the other.

“Question: the remake or the 1985 one?” Yuuri asks.

“You shouldn’t even have to ask that question Yuuri.”

A violent image of the ugliest, chartreuse monster truck the world has ever seen flashes through Yuuri’s mind. _Yeugh,_ he shudders.

“You’re right. I forgot. _Back to the Future.”_ Yuuri decides. _Never again._

“Good choice!” Phichit agrees, rapidly pressing play. The familiar, if ancient and cheesy, movie starts before them.

“I’m surprised you didn’t just put on _The King and the Skater,”_ Yuuri says, passing the popcorn bowl to Phichit. “I figured it’d be a real convenient excuse for you.”

“Listen, _The King and the Skater_ is an artistic masterpiece, but it’s actually not that useful in explaining time travel theory. Like at all.” Phichit replies, munching on the popcorns, eyes enraptured by the unfolding movie.

Yuuri laughs. “Fair enough,” and he too loses himself in the film. For the smallest moment, he forgets all the work that needs to be done.

_Time: 2:02pm, October 20 th, 2135. Location: Starbucks._

The kid at the counter won’t stop staring at Yuuri, and honestly, he doesn’t really understand why. He keeps looking up from his work every three seconds to find huge brown eyes staring at him. He’s only here at the far too cozy Starbucks because the library was packed to hell and back, and Phichit is doing something ‘you don’t want to be around, for trust me’, so he’s here, for maybe the fifth time this past week. Surrounded by papers and digital textbooks, being gawked at by a teenage boy with a silly red hair stripe.

 _Is it something on my face? Or my clothes?_ He wants to ask but doesn’t. Maybe it’s because he’s using paper in 2135, and when’s the last time anyone has done that? _Yep, it’s definitely the paper._ But Yuuri can’t really help it. There’s a smooth lightness to paper he just can’t get enough of. It reminds him of the small collection of old paperback books he has at home.

He’s too busy trying to bury himself back in his work and ignore the eyes that he doesn’t notice the kid at the counter actually bouncing toward him. “Is that…paper?” He asks. _Damn it, I knew it was the paper._

“Yeah,” Yuuri replies, not bothering to look up from his work. _Maybe he’ll leave if I look super busy._

“That’s amazing!! I’ve never seen anyone besides me use paper!!” The kid squeals, before rambling. “Pretty much everyone nowadays uses their Holoscreen for everything, but I always thought paper was so much nicer— _whoa!! Is that quantum physics?!”_ His eyes are as wise as frisbees, jaw ready to hit the floor.

Yuuri just sits there, pen still in hand, internally gaping at this sudden onslaught of enthusiasm (and also a little because _someone else uses paper besides me?!)._ He’s no longer focused on his work, instead dumbly staring at the boy before him. Eventually he manages to respond with. “Yeah. It is.”

“That’s so COOL!!” The boy looks like he’s about to cry. _Is…is it really that impressive?_ “I’ve never really understood physics that well. OH! Crap, I forgot to introduce myself, I just starting rambling—I’m Kenjirou. Kenjirou Minami.”

“…Yuuri Katsuki.” Yuuri says, still far too shocked by the ball of energy in human form before him that he’s dropped the pen on the table and hasn’t noticed.

“Yuuri then!! Cool! Nice to meet you!” Kenjirou gives an inhumanly bright smile. His gloves start beeping. _An alarm._ “Crap! My break is up, I gotta go; good luck with the studying!!” And with that, he dashes back to the counter. _Finally. I can work again._

Still, Yuuri gets the feeling that won’t be the last of him.

_Time: 6:30pm, February 27 th, 2136. Location: Cafeteria._

“Hey Yuuri, how much research have you done on yourself?” Phichit asks, out of the blue, sitting down next to him with his tray of food.

“Uhh…none?” Yuuri replies. _Where is this coming from? How is this—huh?_ Why would he research himself? Honestly, he’s so busy trying to understand quantum physics and basic engineering, and now he’s also minoring in history so there’s just so much work he has to do, he doesn’t have the free time to just google himself on a whim. Or any free time. Hell, he’s got his notes open right now so he can review them while he eats.

“You really should” Phichit says, mouth half full of food. “I’ve been trying to figure something out, and looking you up implies some interesting things about the loop we’re in.” Phichit points out, munching on a french fry.

 _Huh?_ Yuuri looks away from his notes, finally making eye contact with Phichit. “Like what?” _What did you find about me?_

“Well okay so here’s the thing.” Phichit shifts closer, opening his own screen to a google search of Yuuri’s name. “You see all these results? They’re all recent. Links to all your social media accounts under the sun, like your facebook, which I still can’t believe you have because nobody’s used facebook in decades.”

Yuuri rolls his eyes. “Go on.”

“Anyway, so if I specifically search for you in like the early 2000s, say…2012,” Phichit quickly specifies the search.

‘Your search – Yuuri Katsuki – did not match any documents.’

_Oh._

Phichit gestures at the screen with a French fry. “There’s no sign of you existing. And it’s not just if I look up your name. Like, say you went totally undercover with a new name, so I went with something like. ‘Viktor Nikiforov’s mystery man.’” Yuuri has to hold back a snort. “Generic enough to turn up results, and the images could confirm it was you, even if the people writing the article didn’t know, right?” He looks at Yuuri for confirmation. Yuuri nods. _Makes sense._ “And well…” Phichit runs the search he just spoke about. “When you do that, there’s a couple of results, but…none of them are you.”

Yuuri can feel his insides folding in on themselves. _Viktor is…happy without me? He doesn’t…need me? Then what’s the point!?_

“Yuuri, I know that look, and like. No. First, these are all really trashy tabloids reaching. Even if I found you, they’d be just as trashy.” His guts slightly unfold. “But also,” Phichit pulls out a chart, detailing the three most basic time travel theories. “Originally, I thought this would be a stable loop, because this is something you’re fated to do cause you’re soulmates, right? But…I don’t think it is. No matter what I search, I can’t find any sign of you in the past.”

“So what does it mean?” Yuuri asks, but he can’t help the dread building in his gut.

“It means,” Phichit closes the Holoscreen and stares directly at Yuuri. “when we go back in time, most likely, what we do will impact the timeline.” Phichit finishes, and almost winces at Yuuri’s visible anti-enthusiasm. “But think about it like this: if nothing is set in stone, we have a lot of room to succeed right?”

_And a lot more room to fail._

_Time: 3:30pm, August 3 rd, 2136. Location: Living Area, Katsuki Home._

“Oh look, he’s out of his room. It’s a miracle,” Mari comments, leaning against the wall with a lazy smile. Yuuri doesn’t really answer that, instead further skimming the textbook. There’s still so much work. _When will these history classes stop teaching the basics of what everyone knows? EVERYONE KNOWS WHO THE AXIS POWERS ARE._ “Still studying?” She asks, twiddling an e-cigarette in her fingers.

“Mhmm,” Yuuri nods, not looking up. _Can we get to the unit where we talk about the 2000s please._

Mari leans over and peers at Yuuri’s open Holoscreen above the table. “What prompted this anyway? I didn’t really think you liked history. Or science.” She asks, quickly losing interest in the textbook on screen and going back to the wall.

“I well, uh…” _Crap what was the lie I used? Shit! How am I supposed to explain this anyway? **I don’t have a plan!!** I can’t just tell her about my sudden desire to invent time travel for my mystery soulmate! That won’t go over well at all! Crap, crap, crap!!!_

He must have spent too much time stammering and stuttering trying to figure out an answer ( _why did I even decide I have to lie to my parents anyway?!)_ because Mari just kind of shrugs. ‘You don’t have to tell me. So long as it makes you happy, I support it. You know that, right?”

“…yeah.” There’s a two pound weight in his sinking in his gut. _I should have just told her._ Mari’s never been anything but supportive, the same as his parents, why wouldn’t anyone in his family support him now? _I’ll figure out a way to tell them later. I hope._

“Anyway,” Mari pushes herself off the wall, strolling to the door. “Akira just got back from her trip, so I was gonna pick her up. I’ll be home late.” She waves.

“Have fun on your date!” Yuuri calls out as Mari walks out the door, ignoring the bitter taste on his tongue. _Well, the only way I’ll get there is by finishing all this work._

_Time: 11:42pm, November 28 th, 2136. Location: Dorm Room._

He’s finishing off the problem with record timing, and he thinks he’s finally starting to get it. All the months and months of work, ceaseless _work,_ are starting to pay off. He can solve equations while half asleep and explain theories coherently enough when drunk. The idea that he’s supposed to do this, that he _can_ do this, make a time machine, doesn’t seem as ludicrous as it used to before.

Of course, there’s no such thing as an excessive amount of studying, so he’s still solving problems that are six chapters ahead in the textbook than he needs to be, _just to be sure he has it down._

“So it’s almost your birthday,” Phichit says, taking off his wireless headphones, rolling from his back to his side on his bed. The sudden interruption breaks him out of his studying streak. “That makes it what, almost two years since we started this?” he asks.

“Yeah it’s been a while,” Crap, it’s really been two years, hasn’t it? He’s been drowning in notes and books he didn’t notice time had passed. Nothing exists outside all of the work.

“Y’know, I was thinking we make tomorrow something of a dual celebration.” Phichit suggests, flicking his own holoscreen closed. “Mostly for your birthday, but partially for just how much progress you’ve made. It’s really impressive!” he grins.

“Sure, sounds like fun,” Yuuri agrees, more focused on the problem at hand than anything else.

“Oh, and I’m banning you from doing any more work tomorrow, young man.” Phichit attempts to hold the look of a scolding, disappointed parent and fails miserably, breaking out into a laugh. “No but seriously, you need a break, and I’m enforcing it.”

“Fine, fine” Yuuri chuckles. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Good! In fact, you’re starting your break right now. No more work. Go do something else. Anything else!” Phichit chides, about to roll off his bed.

“But it’s not even my birthday yet! I have ten minutes.” _I sound like a petulant child yet I want to do **more** work._

“Don’t make me come over there,” Phichit threatens, but his grin is too wide. “Ahaha, go to bed, Yuuri. You’ve earned it.”

“Yeah, okay,” Yuuri smiles in return, flicking off the holoscreen and lying down in bed. “Goodnight, Phichit.”

“Night, Yuuri,” and the lights go off.

 _Two years, huh…?_ It’s surreal. So much time has past, so much progress has been made, but the goal still seems like it’s thousands of years away. _Viktor…_ Yuuri still doesn’t know anything about him. He still hasn’t given himself the chance to look. _Maybe I should look him up tomorrow. That won’t count as work, right?_

 _Phichit’s right,_ he thinks, curling up under the covers. He needs a break, and maybe the smallest reminder of what he’s doing all of this for.

 

That night he dreams of long, silver hair and gold-bladed figure skates. Blue eyes light the rink before the man skates away into his shadow, leaving nothing but darkness in his wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seung-Gil is tagged and yet. Where is he. (It's okay. He's gonna show up next chapter. I have this all outlined). Viktor's tagged too but HA. It's gonna be a while. Wasn't kidding about that eventual romance tag lmao. but hey least we have that quality Phichit Yuuri Friendship. Which. Everyone needs. 
> 
> Anyway here's my boy Minami. The hardest part of this whole fic is going to be calling him Kenjirou the entire time. I'm just saying. Also my wife. Mari. Because I just need her in my life and thus my fics. 
> 
> Thank you so so so much for all the wonderful positive reception you gave me last chapter. Any comments I get, even if they're just like a keymash or incoherent screaming, or even just "more kudos!!" mean the world to me. I'm so glad you're all excited for this. I am too.


	3. The Abandoned Walmart

_Time: 12:26pm, January 30 th, 2137. Location: Library._

“Hey Yuuri, I was thinking,” Phichit starts, closing his Holoscreen and folding his arms on the desk. “We were going to get out of theoretical pretty soon, and actually like…try inventing something, right?”

“Yeah that sounds good to me,” Yuuri leans away from his notes and glances at his friend. “Why?”

“Well like…where are we going to invent anything?” Phichit asks, and it suddenly dawns on Yuuri, _we don’t have a lab space._ “We can’t exactly build a time machine in our room. There’s hardly enough room for all our crap.”

“Well, that’s at least in part because of your insistence to have your hamsters with you, but that’s a good point.” Yuuri says, rapidly searching the internet for open spaces they could maybe rent? _We’re broke as hell, though._

“Hm…” Phichit frowns into his fist, brows furrowed. “Maybe we can use somewhere on campus?”

Yuuri shakes his head. “Won’t work. We’d only get space for a club room, not a lab, and a club would mean recruiting a whole bunch of people, as well as declaring a purpose to the school, which involve telling people our plan we’re trying to keep under wraps—basically it wouldn’t work at all.”

Phichit sighs, folding his arms back on the desk and resting his chin between them. Eventually, “We could ask our parents?” he tentatively suggests. “No, that won’t work. Your parents don’t have a big enough space in their apartment above the restaurant and mine would ask _far_ too many questions, and wouldn’t leave us alone, _and_ the space issue.”

_Is this…really where it all ends? All that studying only to falter at a lack of space._ He’s clutching his head in frustration as he scrolls through all the results, but they’re all too expensive for a broke college student on a scholarship, no matter how far he digs. “Ugh…” He groans, face collapsing on the desk in resignation.

“We might have to think a little creatively.” There’s a mischievous smirk on Phichit’s face. _Oh no._

_Time: 1:25pm, February 10 th, 2137. Location: The sketchy part of town._

“You know Phichit. When you said think creatively, I was expecting some ridiculous idea, but I have to say. I really wasn’t expecting us to go _abandoned building hunting._ ” Yuuri steps off the bus, whirling around to semi-fake glare at Phichit.

Phichit strolls off the bus nonchalantly, entirely unaffected. “Hey listen, we’re both broke, and we have no lab space that’s free _and_ legal, so we just have to go for the next best thing!” He shouts cheerfully, as the two wander through the old and decrepit part of town.

The walk is mostly quiet. Filled with the occasional judgmental statements and “How about—” “No.” The buildings have vines growing up the sides, slipping through cracks scattered on the walls. Everything is old and grey; Yuuri can’t tell if it’s just because of the gloomy weather or because the streets themselves are the embodiment of cloud covered skies. Not every building is vacant. There’s still a few old grocery stores and old apartment complexes, and a century old strip mall that’s in desperate need of revamping.

If Yuuri’s being honest, it looks a little hopeless. The last place they found was maybe big enough had no power whatsoever, and that just doesn’t work for a lab. _We can’t invent if we can’t see._ He can’t say he had much faith in the idea to begin with, although he doesn’t have any better plans.

Finally they reach an entry to a large vacant parking lot. The road hasn’t been paved in decades, crevices and holes litter the asphalt. You could easily trip and fall if you don’t watch your step, and up ahead is a gigantic moldy building. _Walmart._ The sign is dimly lit, even though the sun is still out.

Phichit runs up to the entrance faster than Yuuri can blink. “Yuuri!!” he calls out, jumping up and down with excitement. The smokers hiding in the shadows of the building peer over at the sudden noise. “We found it!!”

_Really. An abandoned Walmart,_ Yuuri thinks, taking his time walking towards the entrance. He _would_ sigh at the sheer ridiculousness of it all, but considering he’s on a quest to invent time travel, the abandoned Walmart Phichit wants to turn into a lab isn’t that absurd. “Alright, so what makes _this_ the place?”

“Well we would _definitely_ have enough space,” Phichit says, throwing his arms open to mirror the size of the building.

“Excessive space,” Yuuri says with a cheeky grin.

A glare. “Judging by both the sign and looking inside,” Phichit points inside over his shoulder. Bright white light greets Yuuri from inside, as well as a panel with a small blinking red light. “We have power. I guess they didn’t ever take down the solar power panels for whatever reason.”

“Hm…yeah the power is definitely useful. It’s hard to build a time machine when you can’t see.” Phichit looks ready to celebrate, but Yuuri cuts him off still frowning. “What about them?” Yuuri gestures towards the punks in the shadows.

“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about them.” Phichit shrugs it off. “They’re probably here doing something as illegal if not more so than we are. They can’t afford to rat us out.” Yuuri nods. _Makes sense._ “Well, what do you think?” he asks.

Yuuri takes a minute to mull it over, nose scrunched up, until finally. “I think it could work. We don’t have any better options.” The moment Yuuri agrees Phichit jumps up and cheers. “ _But,”_ He continues, and Phichit falters. “We’re not going to be able to use it until we do something about that security system first.”

The small red light on the control panel ceaselessly blinks. Phichit stares at it for several long seconds until “I might have an idea.”

_Time: 3:04pm, February 15 th, 2137. Location: Starbucks._

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Yuuri asks, sidestepping out of the way so the group behind him can get on line.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Phcihit says, scanning the crowd like he’s out in the jungle. “We were going to have to recruit an engineer anyway, and I trust him enough—ah! There he is. Seung-Gil!” Phichit waves his arms in the air. A stoic man around their age, presumably Seung-Gil, nods. “That way.” Phichit points.

They wander and weave their way towards a window in the back, taking a seat at the table. It’s far too bright and crowded for a secret conversation.  “So, Chulanont,” Seung-Gil starts, disdain apparent. _Is he always like this or is it just because of all the people?_ “What did you call me out here for?”

“To the point as always,” Phichit sighs and shakes his head, gesturing to Yuuri with his thumb. “This is Yuuri Katsuki. I told you about him, right?”

“I put that together yes.” No change in Seung-Gil’s perpetual frown. “Now, what do you want?” _Blunt._

“We need your help breaking into an abandoned Walmart.” Phichit points and Seung-Gil in a way reminiscent of old army recruitment posters, if a little less intense and more friendly.

No reaction from Seung-Gil other than the world’s flattest “What.” To be honest, Yuuri’s a little amazed. He didn’t think a person could look less impressed without changing their facial expression, but somehow Seung-Gil pulled it off.

Phichit pulls out his rubber band ball and fidgets as he scrambles to explain. “Well, we were gonna use it as a lab, because we’re broke, but the security system—”

“A lab.” Seung-Gil says, with the vocal equivalent of dropping a 20 ton cement crate from 10 feet in the air. His face however remains unimpressed.

Phichit is about to continue his incoherent ramble before Yuuri blurts out, “We’re building a time machine.”

Silence. You could hear the sound of a pin dropping—no wait. That’s a cup. Someone dropped a cup. Yuuri slowly pans to his right, and there is Kenjirou Minami, mouth agape, hand still in the air as if he’s still holding the cup. For three excruciating seconds no one moves, until finally “Sorry!” he squeaks, eyes wide, before sprinting away to get one of the cleaning robots. _Great. Are we going to have to explain this to him too? Craaapppp._

Seung-Gil cuts off Yuuri’s anxiety before it has the chance to grow by asking the obvious question. “You want to build a time machine?”

Yuuri flinches at Seung-Gil’s stare. “…Yeah.” He can’t make eye-contact, twiddling his fingers. A hand rests lightly, but firmly on his shoulders. There’s an implicit ‘do you need me to explain?’ look in Phichit’s gaze. Yuuri shakes his head resolutely, meeting Seung-Gil’s scrutinizing stare with more confidence.  “It’s…a long story, but the gist of it is my soulmate is in the past.”

Yuuri continues to explain everything up until now, his goal and desire, all of it, with Phichit occasionally filling in additional information. He doesn’t think he sees a change in Seung-Gil’s impassive expression the entire story. Finally, with the most emotion he’s heard from him the entire conversation, although Yuuri can’t pin exactly what, he says, “So you’re building a time machine for love.” _Did…did his attitude change? I—I can’t tell._ “And you need my help to get your lab, and to build it.”

They nod. The moment of truth: _Will he help us?_ Phichit drums the table with his fingers. Finally, Seung-Gil heaves a sigh. “Fine. It sounds moderately interesting.” Relief floods through Yuuri’s veins. _One step closer._ “So when do we start?”

 

_Time: 3:59pm, February 16 th, 2137. Location: The Abandoned Walmart._

It looks like it’s about to rain, and Yuuri’s not sure why they couldn’t just put this off until tomorrow, but Phichit was insistent. ‘ _I wanna square this place away as soon as we can! Because, if it doesn’t work, we really need back up.’_ Yuuri didn’t bother mentioning that if it didn’t work, it’s very possible they’d end up in jail. This is breaking and entering and trespassing. _One problem at a time._

So there they are, standing outside an abandoned, somewhat decrepit Walmart, trying to figure out the plan to break in. Seung-Gil stares intently at the alarm system, as if taking it apart with his eyes. Eventually he turns back to the silently waiting Yuuri and Phichit. “I think I can disable the system easily. From what I can see, it’s similar to what I’ve constructed for the alarm unit I had a semester ago. Not to mention it’s from 2060, so it’s not nearly as complex as what we use now.”

“Great! Let’s get to work!” Phichit cheers, almost swinging Seung-Gil’s toolkit up in the air. Seung-Gill rolls his eyes in response, which Yuuri _thinks_ means ‘If by we you mean me,’ but he doesn’t know Seung-Gil well enough to be sure. Phichit bumps Yuuri with his elbow. “Isn’t this exciting? We’re actually going to have a lab.”

“Hmm..” Yuuri furrows his brow, staring intently through the door Seung-Gil is breaking the padlock off of. The red light blinks at him. Yuuri bites the inside of his lip, nose scrunched. His shoulders lock in place. _We can’t just disable the system, can we?_ Seung-Gil is almost done forcibly unlocking the door when Yuuri calls out “Wait!”

Seung-Gil drops everything and whips around. “What, Katsuki?” There’s no change in his eternal deadpan, but he’s tapping his foot and folding his arms. Impatient. _Is working with him always going to be like this?_

“What’s up, Yuuri?” Phichit asks, concern lacing his voice. “You don’t want to use the Walmart anymore?”

“No! No it’s just—” He pauses, waving his hand to pin down his concern. “I don’t think we should disable the security system.”

“What? But then—”

Yuuri cuts Phichit off, rapidly waving his hands in desperation as he clarifies. “I don’t think we should _just_ disable it. I think we need to repurpose it. For ourselves.”

“Why?” Phichit asks, head cocked to the side. Seung-Gil unfolds his arms.

“Well, a few reasons. Partially because entirely disabling it will catch the attention of the police, and partially because we need to be able to protect what we make. I mean this isn’t only illegal, but we’re trying to _build a time machine,_ and I don’t think that’s technology everyone should have easy access to,” Yuuri explains, even gesturing to the teenagers hiding in the shadows to emphasize his point. _But really the security company will have a lot of questions about this being disabled for the first time in years. It’s an abandoned building._

“So basically, we make their security our own.” Phichit nods in understanding. “Makes enough sense to me! Seung-Gil, you can handle that right?” he asks, nudging Seung-Gil ever so slightly.

Seung-Gil glares back. “It’ll take more work, especially the part where I have to trick the security provider into thinking nothing has changed, but it’s doable.” He says, and all tension in Yuuri’s shoulders dissipates. “Now, can I get back to work?”

“Yep!” Phichit enthusiastically replies, and Seung-Gil finishes picking the lock.

Minutes pass in silence, and Yuuri finds himself spacing out in the general direction of the smoking teenagers on the other side of the building. He’s trying not to think. Even if they have a plan for the security issue, there’s still so many ways it could go wrong. Seung-Gil could cut the wrong wires, or press the wrong button, or maybe there’s another secret security system no one’s noticed— _No. Stop thinking like this. That’s not what’s happening._

The padlock crashes to the floor, and Yuuri whirls around to face the door that now slides open. It’s silent except for the soft beeping of the alarm system. Seung-Gil rushes to the control panel; Phichit and Yuuri following tentatively behind. The seconds tick down slowly, but Yuuri’s heart could not be pounding any faster.

Luckily, Seung-Gil seems to have super speed; Holoscreen up and open as he types in command after command. Some unknown program opens on the screen that Yuuri doesn’t recognize as it scans the device trying to match up the proper passcode. The beeping steadily increases in volume and in speed, like it’s a timer for a bomb. Yuuri can’t help but feel the bomb is his heartrate, his heart seemingly slamming itself against his ears. _Can this thing work any faster?_ The Holoscreen chirps, settling on a passcode. _070262._

Within seconds, Seung-Gil inputs the passcode on the keypad. The beeping stops, and the blinking red light becomes a solid green. The second sliding door opens, illuminating the whole building, vast, vacant and white. Phichit dashes past Yuuri through the door, dropping the toolbox next to Seung-Gil. “Chulanont!” Seung-Gil practically yells compared to the usual, but to no avail.

Phichi spins around with wide eyed wonder, before facing Yuuri in the empty expanse. “This place is huge!! It’s perfect!” He shouts, before running off to explore the premises.

Yuuri’s much slower to actually enter, first glancing at Seung-Gil to find him unscrewing the plastic panel on the device to he can access the wires. _He’s fine,_ and with that, Yuuri steps into a brand new world. With nothing in it, this building just seems like a white void: endless and bright. _Do we really need this much space?_ He’s trying to imagine building something in here. They’re definitely going to need chairs, tables, and a whole lot of other things before this could ever really be a lab, but—

_This is it._ Yuuri breaks out into a grin. _This is it!_ He imagines all they’ll accomplish in here. Building a time machine, going back in time, meeting _Viktor—_ it’s so much closer now. His dream finally is grounded in reality. _I’m one step closer!_

_SCREEEEECH--!!!!!!!!!_ The world’s loudest beep snaps Yuuri out of his reverie. “What the hell is that?” Phichit yells, running back from over where he was examining. They rush over to Seung-Gil, instinctively covering their ears.

Seung-Gil is messing with wires, frowning with marginally more disdain and frustration than usual, glowering at the wires in his hands. “Give me a second. I’ve almost got it.” He says in a rougher variant of his usual monotone. The longest four seconds pass and the blaring noise ceases. “Done. Whole system is set up. We need to get out of here, because the police are going to be here any moment wondering what’s happened.”

The three of them sprint out the door. Seung-Gil, with a deftness and speed the likes of which has never been seen, puts the unlocked padlock back on the door, locking the store back up. It looks like nothing has happened, the blinking red light back on. As they run behind the building into the woods heading for town, they briefly notice the loitering teens already left at the noise.

Eventually, they see the Starbucks, the border between the upscale part of town and the rest, and skid to a stop, panting. Seung-Gil and Phichit are clearly winded, leaning on the side of the building gasping for air. Desperate to collect themselves. Yuuri takes a few deep breaths, the adrenaline still pumping through his body.

The clock in the town square reads 4:30. Something bubbles in his gut spreading throughout his body, and Yuuri laughs. “We did it!” _We have a **lab!**_

Soon, Phichit is laughing with him. “We sure did!” Even Seung-Gil seems to be smiling slightly. It’s done. They officially have a lab space.

_Viktor. I’m on my way._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here he is! Seung Gil. Deadpan and rude. He's great. I love him. 10/10. Anyway, don't you just love when your lab is an abandoned Walmart? because. I sure do. that's the best concept of this fic and honestly my beta came up with it like. there you go. 
> 
> Y'all should know this fic doesn't have an update schedule or anything and as such updates will probably just be whenever I can get them done and out. I'm a creative writing major so. I'm kinda busy but I'll do my best because I'm too excited about this fic not to. 
> 
> Once again thanks to everyone who comments or leaves kudos or both!! Y'all are the reason I can keep writing with confidence not going to lie. You're great. 100000000/10 for you.


	4. Taking Shape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couple of things you should know ahead of time! The first is I rewrote all the chapters before this. You don't have to read them if you don't want; I didn't change any events. I just thought I could write them better. If you don't read them you will still be good for this chapter, but I'd appreciate if you did!!
> 
> The second is really minor but if you don't know how to play hearts, it's like golf where you want as little points as possible. Shooting the moon is basically you forcing everyone to take 26 points each. It's peak asshole move, but also really difficult.

_Time: 12:26pm, March 2 nd, 2137. Location: Walmart Lab._

The Walmart is shaping up to look like a five year old’s pretend lab. Old desks are lined together to make work tables. A smattering of spinning office chairs are littered across the corner they chose to settle in. Across one of the makeshift worktables Seung-Gil is organizing the various tools he owns.

They lucked out that the upstairs office still had chairs and desks, because they weren’t sure how they were going to bring that in otherwise. ‘Three bureaus pushed together don’t constitute a good worktable’ Seung-Gil had complained, but for now there was nothing they could do. They don’t have the means or money to transport better stuff. And speaking of money…

“We’re going to need actual jobs,” Yuuri establishes the moment their lab is truly set up. Phichit stops spinning the chair he sits in and Seung-Gil looks up from his sorting to stare at him. “If we want better equipment, and more importantly, the materials we’ll inevitably need to construct the machine…we need money.”

“We'll also need to secure some form of transportation” Seung-Gil says, inching a screwdriver slightly to the left. _He’s right._ They’ve been taking the bus to this side of town and walking, because the self-driving cars’ GPS system tracks their location, and that’s just a little too risky considering they aren’t supposed to _be_ here. _Also bus fare is cheaper._

“One thing at a time.” Phichit says and claps his hands together. “Job hunting! This will probably make lab work more difficult to coordinate, but we can’t do work without supplies. “So I guess our first real mission.”

 

_Time: 3:34pm, March 19 th, 2137. Location: Starbucks._

Yuuri’s going to be totally honest. He’s always wondered why Starbucks even bothers having someone at the counter anymore when they have machines and robots that can do that instead. Most food chains are entirely machine operated save for one person who is just around making sure the machines still function. But Starbucks insists on having a face to greet people and call their names, even if the mic on their uniforms records and transmits the orders directly to the machines to make it.

He supposes he should be grateful, because as a result he has a job, but he and Kenjirou just switched places and now _he’s_ the one responsible for all the customers’ pleasantries. It hasn’t been 20 minutes and his retail persona is already begging for a nap. _Socializing. My favourite. Why couldn’t I just stay the machine guy today?_

Kenjirou bounces between the machines humming a jazzy number, occasionally poking at the sides of the robots. _He’s got way more energy than me; he should be doing this right now._ (He’s electing to ignore how an hour ago Kenjirou nearly spilt the customer’s drink on them when they came to pick it up). But no, instead Yuuri is manning the counter. He sighs, doing a quick glance around the room. There’s a few people scattered across the room, but most tables and chairs are empty. _Least I have this._

He’s about ready to zone in the direction of the couple in the back corner when Kenjirou taps his shoulder excitedly. Yuuri jolts upright before turning to face him. “Hi!!” Kenjirou greets, smile as bright as the sun. _Where does he get all his energy from?_

“…Hi,” Yuuri replies back, after far too long a pause. He nervously glances at the counter before making eye contact with Kenjirou again. _Help._ It’s not that he doesn’t like Kenjirou; Kenjirou’s a nice kid, but Yuuri just doesn’t know how to deal with him. Their levels of excitement are fundamentally different. That and he worried Kenjirou is one day going to ask about that _time machine_ conversation he accidentally overheard, and Yuuri has absolutely no idea how he’s going to deal with that.

Kenjirou plows ahead oblivious, fussing with the bag he brought out from the back. “So the other day, I went to like, a thrift store. And half the things there are decades old, right?” Yuuri nods along as Kenjirou rambles on, shaking the bag slightly. Finally he finds what he’s looking for sifting through it. “But I found this!” _An origami kit._ The box is slightly dented, but the plastic wrap is still on it.

He can’t take his eyes off it. In the patterns featured on the box Yuuri sees memories of home, of him imperfectly folding the edges and proudly presenting his lopsided results to his mom. Of him plowing through all the paper in it far too fast with hundreds of rough cranes and turtles and cats. It’s hard to come by these anymore with the death of paper. _But there it is._

Kenjirou never stopped talking, telling a similar story about his own childhood, and how ‘I was so excited to find it!!!’ before he finally registers Yuuri’s face and slows to a stop. “Anyway, I brought it with me, because well,” Kenjirou shifts his balance. “You also like paper, right? And I thought…maybe we could try to make something?” He glances up and Yuuri, unconsciously rocking the box in his hands back and forth.

“That sounds like fun,” Yuuri says, and when Kenjirou inevitably lights up like all the neon lights in the city, Yuuri smiles. _This isn’t all that bad._

 

_Time: 10:03am, April 4 th, 2137. Location: Walmart Lab._

They regularly meet up at the lab, even if they don’t have much in terms of parts. Or anything. Seung-Gil’s started putting together blueprints for a basic design. It’s open on the holoscreen as Seung-Gil draws and erases and edits. The machine itself looks bulky and rough around the edges, too many components. It’s huge. “It’s not a complete concept,” Seung-Gil explains, switching from tweaking to presenting. “Effectively this is a basic design for the exterior. I imagine the interior needs some kind of control panel and seating, but until we figure out exactly how we’re moving it through time, I can’t figure out what the controls would look like.”

Phichit frowns, brows furrowed. “It’s pretty obvious now though, isn’t it? Like we haven’t built it and I’m pretty sure everyone would notice it.” He spins the design in the app, scrutinizing it from all angles. “I think solar power is a good idea, because it’s something we’d be able to use no matter the time period, but it weighs down the machine a lot too, doesn’t it?”

“So what if we use solar power to charge a battery, instead of directly powering the machine.” Yuuri suggests. He’s not an engineer by any means—all the work he did was in theory. “We could get away with less solar panels making it less bulky, right? You’d only need enough to charge a battery versus directly powering an entire system. Maybe.” _How apparent is it that I’m not sure what I’m talking about._

“So a solar powered rechargeable battery. That might make the power system less efficient, but we can try it out.” Seung-Gil’s been drawing and erasing as they talk. The new design looks less like a bulky student project, but it’s still large.

“It’s still so noticeable though!” Phichit flops on the makeshift worktable like it’s a bed, knocking one of Seung-Gil’s drills out of place.

“I can’t design something when I don’t even have all the concepts behind it, Chulanont.” He doesn’t even look away from the drawing as he readjusts the drill back to where it was. “Besides, we don’t have a machine that can go anywhere yet. Worry about hiding it once we actually can go somewhere.”

“Fine, fine,” Phichit waves his hand dismissively. “We’ll worry about it later. And Yuuri and I are working on something, right Yuuri?”

Yuuri nods. They have been. Turning theory into practice is difficult, but they have a few ideas, which is why they can begin to talk about power. _We’re going to need a lot of power to create mini-black holes…let’s try everything else. Maximizing power sounds like it’ll be difficult as it is,_ Yuuri can’t help but think as he scrolls through the notes he and Phichit came up with, comparing it to Seung-Gil’s scrupulous blueprints. _There’s still so much work to be done._

 

_Time: 7:18am, April 24 th, 2137. Location: Dorm Room._

Yuuri slips on his shoes before checking the time on the strip of his gloves. _Wow. It’s a lot earlier than I thought it was._ He’s still got time before work. He could just sit around in darkness, lounging in his bed for another 20 minutes before heading out…nah. He has work to do. Maybe he should do that instead.

He’s got the screen pulled up but his hand is stopped right before clicking the file. He’s caught up in staring at his background of an enigmatic smiling silver haired man. Viktor. _Phichit isn’t awake,_ he thinks, glancing over at his roommate’s bed. _I don’t think I should make any changes without him._ A worthless lie. It doesn’t even work. _I can indulge myself just this once._

Within seconds he’s searching the name Viktor Nikiforov and scrolling through countless images. In all these images Yuuri can see his soulmate across his entire life—a life without Yuuri. He can know everything about Viktor, _but he knows nothing about me._

Sometimes Viktor’s grinning with a gold medal gleaming on his chest. Or maybe he’s older with shorter hair, kissing a different gold medal or winking for the camera. Sometimes he’s hugging his dog in a staged magazine cover. And Yuuri knows it’s his dog because three pictures down there’s a candid shot of Viktor’s face getting licked. His smile is the brightest in that one.

He’s not always alone. Sometimes Viktor is with his coach at an event, prepping to get on the ice. Or maybe Viktor’s with fellow skaters, people who Yuuri doesn’t know, like a group photo of team Russia according to the banner. There’s even the occasional paparazzi shot, like the one of Viktor and a man with two toned hair, stumbling out of a bar leaning on each other’s shoulders.

He stops when he hits the tabloid photo, unable to move on. He can’t look away. Viktor’s a mess, clothes are wildly out of place, buttoned in the wrong areas and half falling off. He’s not looking at the camera—he’s not looking anything, eyes closed with a huge smile. Yuuri’s heart twists. The man next to Viktor doesn’t matter—he’d rather not think about the man. Maybe it’s a friend of his. Maybe it’s one of Viktor’s mystery men. It doesn’t matter who he is—he’s not Yuuri.

He closes the Holoscreen and collapses back in bed, staring at the dark void of the ceiling. In his head he’s rewriting that photo with himself. He’s rewriting all photos to add himself. He’s next to Viktor and his coach as Viktor’s about to get on the ice. He’s floating in the background of the group photo. He’s leaning on Viktor as the two of them stumble out of a bar. _One day I’ll be there. With you._

The gloves beep, and he sighs, dragging himself back out of bed. _But for now I have to do all this work._

 

_Time: 6:47 am, May 10 th, 2137. Location: Walmart Lab._

The lab is quiet this evening. At the far end of the table with his tools Seung-Gil’s updates his blueprints with the new plan information, compiling a list of supplies they need. Phichit is flopped next to Yuuri’s holoscreen on the table, occasionally contributing a change to the notes Yuuri’s editing, but mostly staring at the high ceiling. Yuuri himself is mostly aimlessly scrolling up and down through said notes because there’s nothing much to fix or change.

A large stomach growl breaks the silence. Everyone turns to find Phichit wearing a sheepish grin. “Sorry, that was me,” he says, before hopping off the table. “We should probably go look for food. We’ve been here a while.”

Yuuri can’t help but agree, closing the Holoscreen entirely, before standing up and stretching. _It’s been hours._ Seung-Gil however shows no sign of moving, still compiling and editing his list. “You can come with us, if you want” Yuuri offers. He’s still not sure how to talk to him.

“I’ll pass.” Seung Gil replies, not even looking away from the screen.

“Oh come on!” Phichit cries. “You can’t spend all your time by yourself,”

“Did I not just spend several hours with you two?” Seung-Gil readily counters, still not looking away from his work.

“That’s different! That was all work. This—this is fun! Bonding moments. Don’t we need them to work as a team? And also not sit in awkward silence for several hours?” Phichit asks, arms folded across his chest.

“No.” Seung-Gil answers. Rejected. Yuuri’s about ready to leave and elbows Phichit but he won’t budge; he’s staring down Seung-Gil from the door. Seconds pass in silence before Seung-Gil actually looks at them and asks, “Are you really going to stand there until I come with you?” The silence is an implicit yes. _Phichit…._ More silence. A sigh. “Fine, I’ll go with you. But I’m not going to stay for very long.”

“Yes!” Phichit grins, jumping up in the air, before turning to whisper to Yuuri. “I’m glad that worked. Whenever I see him on campus he’s always alone. Even with his rude exterior, I can’t imagine he likes being alone. But I thought we could change that a little, you know?”

Seung-Gil marches up from behind them. “Get this over with Chulanont,” he says, before walking out of the lab. Yuuri might have been imagining it, but he thought that Seung-Gil’s frown was a little less intense. _Maybe Phichit’s on to something._

 

_Time: 11:37am, June 2 nd, 2137. Location: Starbucks._

The Starbucks is packed right now, filled with students and workers who desperately need another coffee because they’re far too tired for all the work they have to do. The robots keep the process moving quickly, thankfully, with little interference on Yuuri’s part, easily recording and making the orders. But there’s a different problem: Kenjirou isn’t nearly as prepared as the machines are.

There’s at least five drinks already made, and most customers just grab them when they see them before Kenjirou gets the chance to say anything at all. In the few instances he has to actually get someone’s attention, he ends up scrambling a little too much and again the customer just grabs it themselves. Maybe they nod to thank him before scurrying off.

Right now is one of those times. “Um…how do you even pronounce this again…Mack…Makaleighlough?” He searches around uncertainly, hunched over at his own probably name butchering. “Your pumpkin spice latte is ready.” In the background one of the robots puts together a frappucino.

Makaleighlough struts up to the counter and flips her hair obnoxiously. “It’s pronounced Jessica, but okay.” Yuuri glances at the spelling on cup. _How did they get JESSICA from that._

Kenjirou passes her the drink with a meek “sorry!” and she walks away with the same attitude she came with. Yuuri’s about to turn away and do something else when— _oh no._

As Kenjirou turns around to grab the next drink he accidentally knocks into the robot placing the fresh made Frappuccino on the counter, knocking the cup out of it’s grip. It falls in slow motion; Kenjirou flails ineffectively, and without thinking Yuuri’s arm shoots out to catch it. The cold drink lands in his hand, a small amount spilling over the top and dripping on his hand. Yuuri hands the cup over to Kenjirou. “Careful.”

Kenjirou looks at him like he just caught the last out of the inning, securing the successful turnaround of the underdog. _Was it…really that impressive?_ “Will do!” he chirps, spinning back around and almost whacking another drink off the counter.

Yuuri sighs and shakes his head. _He’s helpless,_ Yuuri chuckles. “Let me give you a hand with this. There’s a lot today.”

Again Minami looks at him like he invented the stars. “Okay!”

 

_Time: 1:10pm, July 12 th, 2137. Location: Home Depot._

They dedicated today to shopping. They had finalized plans for the machine a week or so ago, so now they need to get the materials to build it. The self driving cart trundles through the store, and Yuuri lazily follows behind it. Phichit and Seung-Gil are bickering in front of the cart about the metal being used for the bulk of the machine.

“The aluminum would look nicer! Not like this ugly graphite color. Don’t you care about aesthetics?”

“What happened to all your complaints about the machine being too obvious? Also they didn’t have enough of it either.”

“I want it to be subtle not _ugly!_ Fine, aluminum plating?”

Deep sigh. “If you can find it, but I’m not helping you do it.”

Yuuri snorts and shakes his head, before losing himself in his thoughts. _We still haven’t figured out how we’re bringing all this back to the lab. It’s a **lot,**_ he thinks, staring at the overflowing cart. There’s piles of metal, a huge rechargeable battery, a couple of solar panels, and various other things stacked on the bottom of the cart. _I hope we have the money._ They piled up all the money they’ve been saving from various jobs over the months and gave it to Seung-Gil, so hopefully it’s enough. The real concern is still transportation. They can’t bring all this on a bus. _Can we even afford a self driving car after this? And there’s still the GPS issue…_

“Yuuri!” Phichit calls him back to reality. “We’re about to check out!” The space between him in the cart is a lot wider than he remembered.

He runs to catch up. “Did I miss anything?” He asks.

Phichit shakes his head. “Nope. Seung-Gil and I were just talking about how we’re bringing all this back.”

“We can’t use the bus,” Seung-Gil says, rifling through his wallet to pay the machine. He hands over his card, before turning to face Yuuri. “Unfortunately we can’t just take this cart all the way back with us.”

“And we can’t use a self driving car either.” Phichit adds. The robot at the checkout counter loads the cart back up with all their stuff.

“Hmm…” Yuuri stares intently at the cart. It’s awfully convenient. “How far away are we from the lab?” he asks.

“Maybe a half mile if we take the back way, but we can’t carry all this and walk back.” Phichit answers as they head towards the exit.

The cart follows them out of the building. _It won’t leave the lot though. Not while it’s on—aha!_ “Seung-Gil is it possible for you to turn the cart off?” Yuuri asks. Of course they’ll have to push the cart there and back, and it has to be heavy as hell, but it’s the best plan they’ve got.

Seung-Gil nods. “I think I can make it work.”

 

_Time: 10:09pm, August 17 th, 2137. Location: Starbucks._

They’ve closed up the store, set the robots to clean up the store and shut themselves off. Yuuri’s about to leave the store, and calls out to Kenjirou “I’ll see you tomorrow—Kenjirou?” But Kenjirou isn’t in the back with him. Yuuri furrows his brows. _Wasn’t he just here?_ But Kenjirou is nowhere in sight.

Yuuri heads out to the front of the store and finds Kenjirou still standing behind the counter, staring blankly at the marble countertop. He doesn’t look like he’s heard anything, because he doesn’t move, still staring downwards with that blank frown. He’s seemed out of it all day, slow to respond to the point Yuuri switched positions with him, but it’s looking even worse now.

Yuuri tentatively taps Kenjirou’s arm. “We should probably go.” He says, but Kenjirou still doesn’t move, instead staring slowly staring up at Yuuri. It’s only then that Yuuri notices how teary his eyes are. “What happened?”

“My eighteenth birthday is in just two hours.” Kenjirou replies, and suddenly Yuuri understands. _I was like this too,_ remembering the night before his eighteenth birthday. He spent the whole night in a mix between super excited daydream and panicked despair—Phichit didn’t hear the end of it. An hour before midnight the two emotions collided violently, and Yuuri broke down screaming into a pillow trying not to cry. It was a mess. And the weeks after getting his mark were just as messy.

And now Kenjirou stands here before him, tears this close to boiling over. He looks a little shaky. “I get my mark in a few hours. I can find out who my soulmate is—it’s great right?” He asks Yuuri, trying to force a smile but it doesn’t meet his eyes as much as he wants it to.

Yuuri is absolutely worthless with crying people. He knows this. One time someone broke down and his first reaction was ‘huh I didn’t expect you to cry’. Not his finest moment. He doesn’t know how to comfort someone, but he does know how Kenjirou feels. Yuuri pats Kenjirou’s shoulder awkwardly, and says “It’s okay to be scared. I was too before my eighteenth.” _And after,_ he doesn’t mention.

“Really?” Kenjirou stares up at him in disbelief. “You were? But you always seem so—so cool!”

 _How much have you built me up in your head?!_ “Yeah. I couldn’t sleep and I had a bit of a meltdown that night.” Yuuri can’t believe he’s sharing this with his excitable coworker. If it were up to him he’d light it on fire and bury the ashes in the deepest pit of his mind. “No matter who your soulmate is, it can’t possibly be as ridiculous as mine is.” _Why did I say that._

“There goes my dream of being your soulmate…” Kenjirou mutters, staring dejectedly at the floor, and Yuuri sweats. _I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,_ although on some level he’s not really surprised that was Kenjirou’s dream. The kid looks at him like he’s a god on earth. “Why is yours ridiculous?” Kenjirou asks, finally looking back up.

“Weeelll….” _Crap._ He really dug his grave now. How does he explain without revealing the truth? “I have to do a whole lot more work than I originally expected.” _Please don’t ask questions._

“Oh!” Kenjirou sits up straighter. “Does this have to do with that time machine thing?” _I was hoping he forgot that._ Yuuri slumps over and buries his head in his hands. _Damn it._ Kenjirou panics, flailing his arms. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to overhear you that one time, it just happened, and honestly I’ve wanted to ask you about it for a while now, I just didn’t because I didn’t want you to think I was eavesdropping, although you probably think that now—”

“Kenjirou.” He stops mid word. “It’s okay.” Yuuri does his best to smile reassuringly. “I brought it up this time; don’t worry about it. But yes, this does relate to inventing time travel.” And once again Yuuri finds himself explaining his goals to create time travel for love. About the lab and it’s members and the slowly coming together machine.

“That’s so AMAZING!” Kenjirou shouts, his eyes sparkle, and all traces of his previous sadness are gone. “Here I am worrying about whether I’ll have a soulmate or if they’ll like me, and you’re worrying about _inventing time travel for them!_ ”

Yuuri can’t help but laugh. “Thanks, but your concerns about your soulmate are just as valid.” Kenjirou rapidly nods, continuing his long winded ramble of just how amazing Yuuri is, and how he’s so impressed, and he’ll have to try especially hard for his own soulmate, whoever it may be. “You know,” Yuuri begins, cutting Kenjirou off again. “If you want, since you know anyway, you can be a part of the lab.”

Kenjirou shoots himself far too close to Yuuri’s face. “You’d really let me do that?!” He looks like he’s about to burst into tears of joy. A nod. “Wow!!” And there he goes again. Lost in his own happy bubble.

Yuuri chuckles as he watches Kenjirou practically dance with excitement. _This will certainly spice up the lab._

_Time: 9:22am, September 30 th, 2137. Location: Walmart Lab._

The time machine is coming along slowly. It sits in the corner right now as a huge giant metal sphere…and that’s about it. It’s not very artistic, the metal is still rough around the edges and Seung-Gil has a lot more welding to do.  It’s currently not powered or anything, forget seating or controls…but it’s a giant metal sphere with legs to keep it upright, surrounded by scrap metal and other junk. But it’s _something._ Something to work on.

Kenjirou ran out on a coffee run, so it’s just Yuuri, Phichit and Seung-Gil. Seung-Gil is currently drilling into the side of the sphere, while they just lounge about on chairs. They don’t touch an parts of the machine unless Seung-Gil orders them to. It’s not that Seung-Gil’s ‘I can’t build this all by myself, Chulanont,’ was incorrect, but the _one_ time he Phichit and Kenjirou _tried_ to weld something together they almost completely wasted the entire sheet and broke whatever little progress they had made. _I didn’t know he had that level of anger in him._

“Katsuki. Come over here and hold this.” Seung-Gil demands, waving a drill at him impatiently, not bothering to look away from the giant sphere he’s working on. “And Chulanont I need that rod to the left of you. _Don’t_ take anything else.”

So they drag themselves out of their chairs, although Phichit grumbles to himself “I wasn’t going to,” and do what their told.

The door to the lab slides open again. _Ah. Kenjirou._ “I brought your coffee!!!” He calls, dashing over to the three of them. He doesn’t seem to notice the piece of metal lying on the floor, and trips, the cardboard cup holder containing their coffees flies out of his hand and crashes to the floor. The damaged cups leak everywhere, and all of them scramble to pick them up.

“Minami! What did I say about running in the lab?” Seung-Gil scolds, frown moderately more severe.

Kenjirou winces. “Sorry!! I forgot!!” After collecting all the cups and putting them back in the holder he places it on the table.

“Thanks for the coffee,” Phichit ruffles Kenjirou’s messy hair. “But yeah be more careful, okay?” He says, taking a sip from one of the now dented cups.

Kenjirou’s bright smile is back in place “Okay!”

_Time: 8:30pm, November 7 th, 2137. Location: Dorm Room._

Yuuri’s finishing a report he needs to write for class when the door slides open. “Welcome back,” he says, before going back to this one sentence that’s been driving him crazy for the past ten minutes. Phichit doesn’t answer, instead just flopping face first on his bed and groans. “Bad day?” Yuuri asks, finishing the paragraph before closing the Holoscreen. Another groan in response. Yuuri sits up and turns to face Phichit. “What happened?”

“Seung-Gil,” is Phichit’s muffled response. He hasn’t moved; he’s still faceplanted on his bed, half of him hanging off the edge.

“Ah. Well, he is very…blunt.” _Abrasive._ Yuuri points out unhelpfully. It’s not a conversation they’ve really had. Phichit honestly took Seung-Gil’s attitude with ease so this is a bit of a surprise.

“No it’s not that. I’m pretty sure his attitude is some kind of defense mechanism but—" Phichit says, slowly shuffling so he’s entirely on the bed before sitting up. “I learned something really annoying about him earlier that’s just—aggravating!” Yuuri waits patiently for Phichit to continue. “We went shopping for more supplies earlier, since we had time today, right? So I asked him about his soulmate. You know, friendly conversation.”

Phichit his pillow and hugs it to his chest. “I figured it wouldn’t be that big a deal. Most people don’t mind talking about their soulmates, and I didn’t think he’d care if he didn’t have one. But instead he just goes, in typical Seung-Gil fashion ‘I don’t care about that.’” He kicks the metal floor.

“I asked him if he had one, to which he was like ‘Yes, but I don’t care.’ So I asked if they ever met and he goes—and he goes!!” Phichit collapses back on his bed. “He said ‘No I haven’t even bothered submitting.’”

 _Oh._ Now it makes sense. Of course it would bother Phichit—he’s been waiting for years now and to hear that Seung-Gil just _doesn’t care_ to submit… Yuuri goes to and sits next to Phichit on his bed. “I just…” Phichit wipes at his eyes and sniffs sitting back up. “Is this why I have to wait? Because whoever my soulmate is decided they just _don’t care?_ Do they just not care about me?” He hiccups and buries his face in his pillow.

Yuuri silently wraps an arm around his crying friend. It’s the only thing he can do.

_Time: 11:54pm, December 31 th, 2137. Location: Walmart Lab._

They haven’t done any work this evening. Well, okay, that’s not true, Seung-Gil perfected the exterior of the machine despite protests that ‘Today’s a party day!!’, solar panels and everything. Granted, they power exactly nothing right now, but still. But other than that they haven’t done anything of worth.

What they _have_ done is played board games and card games for several hours. They’re in the middle of a hearts game. It’s the last hand of the round. Everyone throws their cards in and groans, but Yuuri’s smirking. “I’d check how many points you all have,” Yuuri begins, and his smirk only grows, “but I already know the answer to that.”

Seung-Gil doesn’t grace that with a response, instead slamming the continue button on his Holoscreen. Kenjirou’s been flopped on the table unresponsive for a few rounds now. “Fuck you,” Phichit groans, slumping onto the table. “How the hell did you shoot the moon _twice in a row_ and _no one stopped you?!_ ”

Yuuri only snickers in response, checking his new hand the AI dealt him. “Not my fault you all suck at this.” He looks away from his hand to check the time. _Oh, it’s almost midnight._

In another universe he would be spending tonight with Viktor. It’d be quiet except the soft music playing playing in the background. The lights are low, enough to see but still create an atmosphere. Maybe they have the ball drop on, maybe they don’t. It doesn’t matter. The digital grandfather clock app they have open strikes twelve. And then—

“Katsuki, play a damn card.” Seung-Gil snaps him out of his daydream.

“Alright, alright,” _now let’s see…_ Yuuri thinks, but as he picks his card, his mind wanders back to Viktor. _One day._

_Time: 12:16pm, February 12 th, 2138. Location: Starbucks._

Yuuri’s been ignoring all the Valentine’s day hype. Obviously Starbucks is doing a special promotion for the holiday, they’ve even decorated the store with holographic hearts, which he’s been avoiding looking at by staring at the coffee bot. His poor coworker might need his help with something, because it’s _that_ time of day, but he can’t really be bothered.

Yuuri sighs, quickly checks to make sure the coffee bot isn’t malfunctioning, and opens his Holoscreen as a small window. A smiling Viktor Nikiforov holding up a gold medal greets him. He immediately closes out of it and looks up at the ceiling. Even in the recycled ceiling he can still see Viktor’s smiling face.

The gloves vibrate. A text from Phichit.

_Phichit: gonna try and convince Seung-Gil to submit his soulmark. Wish me luck._

_Yuuri: good luck_

He’s tired of all the specials and promotions celebrating love. He’s tired hearing people talk about their plans with their soulmates. He’s tired of only having pictures and articles and not a person to celebrate with. The coffee bot starts sputtering. Yuuri presses several buttons, messing with the settings, before the bot goes back to normal.

Another text.

_Phichit: didn’t work ((((_

_Yuuri: maybe one day_

Another sigh, as he closes out of the app. Viktor smiles at him. Yuuri wishes he could just run his fingers through that short silver hair. He wants to know if it’s smooth or not. He wants so much that he can’t have. But they’re a century apart, and all he has in an incomplete machine and a dream, and even something as simple as that seems like it’s years away.

_Just get Valentine’s day over with._

_Time: 3:40am, March 5 th, 2138. Location: Dorm Room._

Should he have gone to bed hours ago? Probably, but instead he’s watching video after video of Viktor Nikiforov skating under the warm confines of his blankets.

On the screen 16 year old Viktor goes for a quad flip, and lands it effortlessly. His eyes don’t even appear to be open for the landing; he has that much confidence in his ability. His long hair billows out behind him as he goes in for a final combination spin. The final pose has him on one knee, arms spread out. The audience cheers, a standing ovation, like they all knew he just shattered records at such a young age. A few roses and plushies rain from the sky as Viktor takes a deep bow, unable to keep from beaming. Yuuri himself feels a twinge of pride.

In the suggestions there’s ‘Viktor’s winning free skate 2015 Grand Prix Final.’ Since he’s already decided to waste the night away, he might as well. The first thing Yuuri notices is the solo violin, slow and somber. The bigger thing he notices is Viktor doesn’t smile. And maybe it’s the tone of the piece, lost and alone and melancholic, but even in programs about grief Yuuri noticed the way his lips quirked up at a good landing, or a perfect Biellmann spin, but here there’s nothing but death in his eyes.

_“I've been searching for so long_

_Wondering where you've gone_

_Why can't I find any traces of you”_

Viktor splays his hands over his chest—his _mark_ clearly visible in the low cut outfit, and Yuuri lets out a soft gasp. _Oh._ And as Viktor spins he wants to reach through the screen and pull him in for a hug. He ignores the tears pricking at his eyes, raptly watching the video. _It’s not just me._

Viktor’s final pose ends with his arms outstretched in desperation and longing. He can hear a commentator over the applause “Well, I think that Nikiforov’s fifth consecutive win is within reach with that performance,” but Yuuri pays them no heed. He only cares about the skater on the screen. Something steels in his gut. “I’m on my way, Viktor.”

_Time: 3:40am, April 13 th, 2138. Location: Walmart Lab._

It’s starting to look like an actual time machine. The metal panels are smoothly connected, and the solar panels look less like they were thrown on and more like they’re built in. On the interior there’s a touchscreen control panel, and seating around the edges.

“We really need cushions for that,” Phichit points out.

“You’ve established this several times, Chulanont.” Seung-Gil responds, messing with the internal wiring. The only thing it’s missing is the battery. They don’t yet have the money to afford one that’s the strength they need.

“I know but we should time travel in comfort. Right Kenjirou?” Phichit asks.

Kenjirou nods enthusiastically. “I can bring some spare pillows from home, if you want! I’m sure we have some lying around the house—”

Phichit laughs and ruffles Kenjirou’s hair. “Maybe another day. When we’re actually going somewhere.” Seung-Gil just rolls his eyes in the background.

Yuuri looks at them fondly before turning back to the machine. He knows that even once they have it entirely set up that doesn’t mean it’s good to go. It just means they’ll have something they can test. It means they _might_ have a working time machine. But even if that’s the case, he can’t help but be excited. A machine, even one that’s just for testing means actually _going back in time_ is closer in reach than it ever was.

“We’re well on are way huh,” Phichit stands next to him as they look at the unfinished machine. One day it’s going to go somewhere.

“Yeah.” Yuuri smiles. “We are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's really long huh? I hope it was worth the wait. I had a lot to accomplish here, and I think overall I'm pretty proud of it. It's not perfect, but I think it's good. I'm content. (I basically wrote all of it in the past 2 days because I rewrote what I had of it and then added another fuckin 3k. Am I an overachiever or what?)
> 
> Shout out to my beta Rune in particular for the lyrics and the chapter title. Idk what I'd do without them.


	5. HIATUS NOTICE

I hate doing this but this fic is definitely going on hiatus because my special interest switched, and as a result I'm really burnt out on YOI. Everything I try to write for this fic is incredibly forced and  _shitty,_ and that's not the content you deserve. You deserve this fic written well, and that's not going to happen if I force myself to write when I don't care at all. You deserve way better than that. 

I don't like abandoning projects. I really don't. And I have an entire outline for this too I mean it's  _planned,_ so I can pick this right back up as soon as I get that motivation, but for now it's on hiatus. When it comes back expect slow updates because I doubt my SI will switch back to YOI until the movie comes out, and I'd like to think it won't take me that long to not be burnt out? We'll see.

I'm really sorry to have to do this. I feel like a dick, but I can't make myself give you guys a really shitty version of this fic when I know I can do better. 


End file.
